Locking means for multiple closures



June 1, 1937. L. HANSEN 2,082,449

LOCKING MEANS FOR MULTIPLE CLOSURES Filed June 21, 1934 2 Shecgts-Sheet1 June 1, 1937. L. L. HANSEN 2,082,449

LOCKING MEANS FOR MULTIPLE CLOSURES Filed June 21, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Juan/Who'll LLHANSEN,

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Patented June 1, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

This invention relates to a locking means for multiple closures, andparticularly automobile doors, and has for its object to provide simpleand inexpensive mechanism adapted to co-act with,

5 and, in efiect, to constitute a part of the existing locks upon thedoors of certain types of automobiles, to the end that the locking orunlocking of the key-controlled master door will automatically bringabout a corresponding looking or unlocking of the other doors of theautomobile.

In many of the existing types of automobiles, it is necessary for theowner to separately lock or unlock each individual door. This istroublesome and time-consuming, and it is highly desirable to provide anarrangement of parts by means of which the manipulation of a single keywill auto matically effect the desired results with respect to all ofthe doors.

In some devices recently proposed for the accomplishment of the resultsstated, complete lock assemblies have been devised to be substituted forthe conventional locks of the automobile doors. Not only is thatprocedure expensive, but some of the proposed structures rely uponelectro-magnets to bodily move certain of the parts in effecting thelocking function. Further, the structures proposed lacked some of themost advantageous features of the latest types of automobile door locks.For example, the locks used upon automobile doors, up until veryrecently, were so constructed that a thief, by applying a piece of pipeor other instrument to the door handle, could force the lock and openthe door. To meet that situation the latest types of automobile locksare so constructed that the key in the act of locking the door merelyshifts an operating member of the bolt out of operative relation withrespect to the bolt, so that, even if the handle is entirely twisted of!by a thief, the door still remains locked.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide anovel type of mechanism adapted to co-act with the new form of lockdescribed, and totake advantage of the aforesaid characteristics of saidlock to the end that the electromagnets employed, instead of having toperform the actual work of shifting certain elements of lock mechanism,have merely to perform the function of rendering certain of said lockelements inoperative with respect to the bolts of the locks.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a signal which willindicate that all of the doors are not locked, when such is the case.Further objects and advantages of the invention will be the doorsremoved to disclose the locking mechanism therein.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrating one form of wiring whichmay be used.

Figure 3 isa detailed view illustrating the mechanism associated withthe lock of the front or main door.

Figure 4 is a like view illustrating the mechanism associated with oneof the other or auxiliary doors.

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view u'ponline 5-5 of Figure 4, and vFigure 6 is a detail view of the signal light housing hereinafterdescribed.

It should be understood that the lock illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings constitutes no part of the invention. The lock represented isthe look very largely used upon the 1934 model automobiles, andespecially those manufactured by the General Motors Company, such as theChevrolet and the like.

These locks comprise a base plate 5 upon which the main bolt 6 isslidably mounted. This bolt-is normally held in its projected positionby a spring I. The tail of this spring bears against a lug 8 upon arocking lever 9. The upper end of lever 9 is pivotally connected at illto a pawl I i, the free end of which is adapted to engage in a notch i2I of the bolt. The shank of the handle is indicated at i3 and in thenormal operation of opening the door, turning of the handle thrusts thepawl ii towards the left, and the engagement of said pawl in the notchi2 acts to retract the bolt. When the door is to be locked, or in otherwords, when the handle is to be disconnected from the bolt so thatmanipulation of the handle will no longer retract the bolt, a key whichacts through shank l3 rocks an arm H about the axis constituted by shanki3 to lift the outer end of said arm. This movement lifts the pawl iiabove the shoulder which constitutes the rear end of the notch 62, andthereafter manipulation of the handle while thrusting the pawl Hrearwardiy will no longer retract the bolt.

The parts so far described are the conventional parts of existing locks.In carrying out my invention I attach to arm ii an angle plate I 5 thatis insulated from H at It. An extension of said angle plate movesbetween contact strips l1 and I8. These strips are insulated from eachother at 19. The contact plate IS in all positions makes contact withthe contact strip 20. Thus it will be seen that when the lever arm I4 iselevated, block l5 will establish connection between strips l1 and 20,while when the arm i4 is in its lowermost position, block [5 willestablish contact between strips l8 and 20.

The structure just described is that which is associated, in the case ofan automobile, with the right hand front door, or the door that isordinarily key-controlled; the remaining doors of the automobile havethe same type of lock mechanism in so far as the bolts, pawls andoperating handles are concerned, and the same reference characters havebeen applied.

In the application of the present invention, I apply to each of theremaining doors a pair of electromagnets 2| and 22. See Figures 4 and 5.An armature 23 is disposed to be attracted by these magnets and is inthe form of a bell crank lever that is pivoted at 24 and insulated fromthe base plate 5 of the look as indicated at 25. This lever carries shoe26 which, when the lower magnet is energized, is thrust laterally ortowards the base plate 5 so that it overlies or projects into the notchl2 of the corresponding bolt. The result is that if the door handle bemanipulated at this time, and its pawl I I be thrust rearwardly in theusual way, the free end of said pawl merely rides up over the shoe anddoes not engage the shoulder of the notch. This action takes place withrespect to all of the doors, the magnets of which are connected, and areenergized as described, and thus it will be clear that the completion ofa circuit at the right-hand-front door, which will hereinafter bereferred to as the master door, serves to look all of the remainingdoors by rendering their operating handles inoperative with respect tothe bolts of said doors. The vertical arm 21 of the armature movesbetween conarm 21 and serving to frictionally hold it in any adjustedposition. If desired, a teat 21b may be provided upon-the strip 21ato'increase the definiteness of the action of this friction element in amanner common in friction devices of this nature.

Referring now to the diagrammatic Figure 2, B indicates a battery orother source of electric current, the negative side of which is groundedat G. From the positive side a conductor 30 leads to the contact stripl3. A branch conductor 3| leads to one side of an electric light bulb 32constituting the signal which serves to indicate when all of the doorshave not been properly locked. The other side of the light bulb isconnected by conductor 33 to contact strip 29. This contact strip isalso connected by a conductor 34 through the lowermost magnet 22 of oneof the doors and thence through a conduc- 75 connected throughconductors 28a to one side of the uppermost magnets 2|, the other sidesof said magnets being grounded as indicated at 33. If now the operator,through the use of a key at the master-door, shifts plate l5 to contactstrip I1, the circuit will be completed as follows:

From ground 40, contact strip I1 through plate 20, conductor 4|, arm 21,of the armature, contact strip 29, conductor 34, magnet 22, conductor35, conductor 36 and battery B, and back to ground G. This results inenergizing lowermost magnet 22 to move arm 21 of the armature to theleft for the purpose hereinbefore described,

and this in turn moves arm 21 to contact with strip 28, breaking thecircuit just described. When the operator turns the key to unlock thedoor, plate l5 contacts strip l8. The circuit is then as follows:

From ground G, through battery B, conductor 30, strip l8, plate i5,strip 20, con-ductor 4|, arm

21, and strip 28, conductor 28a, uppermost magnet 2|, and ground 39,thus energizing the uppermost magnets and moving the parts to. theposition illustrated in Figure 2. The result of this is to not only movethe shoes 26 out of the path of the pawls but to break the circuit bythe movement of arm 21..away from strip 28. It is true that in thismovement of the arm 21 contact is again made with strip 29, but thisstrip is now included in a circuit which is open because plate I5 hasbeen moved away from strip l1. In the present types of automobile doors,a door stop is employed which comprises a rod 42 that is hinged at 43concentrically with the hinge of the door. This rod carries a head 44which acts against a spring 45 and against a cross member 46 of a yoke41. I may use this structure as a means for'carrying the electricalconducting wires through the door stop. This may be accomplished bymaking the rod 42 hollow. However, I recognize the fact that switches ofmany kinds have been employed for accomplishing this result, and it isto be understood that I contemplate the employment of any of these knowndevices in lieu of the arrangement described.

In the conventional type of lock to which this invention is appliedmeans are provided for actuating the main bolt 6 from the inside of thevehicle, these means comprising slotted links 43 connected at one end tothe bolt 8 and at the other end to a crank arm 49 that may be actuatedby handle 50 from the inside of the door. Further, the present type oflock comprises a rod 5| operable from inside the car and by which arm'l4 may beelevated in the same way that it can be elevated from theoutside of the car by the key, and thus the occupant of the car maysimultaneously look all the doors from the inside in the mannerdescribed.

One of the features inherent in the described structure is that if thelock of the master door is set to locked position when the door is openand then the door is closed with its operating handle at normalposition, the doors will be automatically unlocked, but if the handle isheld down when the door is closed, the doors will remain locked withoutthe use of a key. One of the reasons for arranging these locks in Suchmanner that if the door is slammed the door will be automaticallyunlocked, is to prevent the car owner from accidentally locking himselfout of his car. It will be seen that my attachment admirably adaptsitself to looks of this character since it follows the action of themaster lock, whatever it maybe.

aoaasss The purpose of the electric bulb 82 is to indicate to the ownerwhether all of the doors are properly locked. If all of the doorsfunction as intended, the light does not light, but if the plate it hasbeen set to locked position and if any of the door locking mechanismsfail to function, then the light'will light to indicate that at leastone of the doors has not been properly locked.-

The circuit to accomplish this is completed as follows:

From ground G through battery B, conductors 30 and 3|, to one side ofthe bulb 82, thence through conductor 33, strip 29, arm 27,, conductor5|, strip 20, plate i5 and strip H back to ground 40. It is apparentthat by the use of a conventional two filament bulb the same resultcould be accomplished with respect to the other position or the arm 21,thus rendering it possible to cause the lampito indicate any failure ofthe three remaining door-lock mechanisms to follow the lead of themaster mechanism, and thus indicate a failure of any of these othermechanisms to move to unlocked positions as well as a failure to move tolocked position.

5 The light is preferably located in the side panel of the master door,and may be covered by an ornamental escutcheon plate and red transparentglass or celluloid to give a signal in the nature of a danger signalupon the failure of any of the 0 looks to function.

Having described my invention, what I claim is: 1. In an assembly of thecharacter described, the combination with a lock comprising a bolthaving a notch, of a handle-operated pawl for 35 engaging said notch toretract the bolt, a magnet and a member actuated by said magnet andadapted to be projected thereby between the pawl I and the notch of thebolt as and for the purposes 40 set forth, said member being so shapedthat when up over said member instead of engaging in the notch of thebolt.

2. The combination with a lock comprising 'a projected as described, theend 01 the pawl rides bolt having a notch and a handle-actuated pawladapted to engage said notch, an electro-magnet, an L shaped armaturefor said magnet, one leg of which projects over the core of the magnet,and a shoe carried by the other .leg of the armature and adapted to bethrust laterally under the action of the magnet between the notch of thebolt and the pawl.

3. A device of the character described comprising a lock having a boltand an actuating pawl for the same adapted to engage in the notch 01'said bolt, 9, shoe adapted to be thrust between the bolt and pawl forthe purposes stated, a pair of electro-magnets one of which actuatessaid armature in one direction and the other of which actuates saidarmature in the other direction and circuits as described controlled bythe movement of said armature in one direction or the other.

4. The combination with a lock comprising a slidable bolt having a notchin its edge, a handle, a pivoted pawl movable back and forth along theedge of said bolt by the movement of said handle, and having its freeend engageable with said notch to retract the bolt, a magnet and a partactuated by said magnet, and projected laterally by said magnet over theedge of said bolt, and of such shape that when so projected, the saidpart is caused to lie in the path of movement of the free end of thepawl to move the latter out of notch engaging position.

5. In an assembly of the character described, the combination with alock comprising a bolt having a notch, of a handle-operated pawl, theend of which engages said notch to actuate the bolt; a shoe adapted tobe moved into position to overlie the bolt over which the free end ofthe pawl rides and by which the free end of the pawl is elevated to freeit of the notch of the bolt when said shoe is projected into position tooverlie the bolt, and a, power element engaging said shoe and operativeto move the shoe laterally with respect to the bolt.

LORRIN L. HANSEN.

